Financial services company First National Bank has extended an agreement that grants it naming rights to the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa.
FNB’s new five-year deal with venue operator Stadium Management SA (SMSA) runs from 2017 to 2022.
Under the agreement, SMSA, FNB and the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan will continue to promote the bank’s association with the stadium through traditional and online media channels.
Particular focus will be placed on promoting stadium partners, including the domestic Premier Soccer League, the SA Football Association, PSL clubs Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates, Big Concerts International, Carling Black Label and various religious ministries. The stadium also hopes to expand its partnership with the South African Rugby Union through the new agreement.
FNB has held naming rights to the 87,436-seat facility, which is also known as Soccer City, since it opened in 1989. It is said to be the longest naming-rights partnership in the history of South African sports stadia.
FNB Stadium staged the opening match and the final of the football’s Fifa World Cup in 2010, and also hosts other sporting events and music concerts.
Jacques Grobelaar, chief executive of the SMSA, said: “The South African football supporters are familiar with the FNB Stadium as the home of South African football. Since the 2010 Fifa World Cup tournament, this venue has hosted in excess of 630 events with more than nine million spectators going through the gates. The partnership with FNB is a like-minded partnership focusing on quality and shared values of teamwork.”